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Thanks, I think? Haha Took a month break for some recharging, and now I present a Shan Elariel for my Secret Sazed target. Woo! Also not sure if its allowed, but I wanted to share my artstagram just in case anyone wanted to see the doodles I make earlier. Posting here is usually delayed a day or two, because I stink at remembering things. https://www.instagram.com/felcandy.art/

Brandon went to American Fork High School today, and @blackout8444 was super amazing and kind enough to write down the questions (We didn't think it'd be a great idea to record minors heh). Here we go and thanks again!

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or night, my fellow denizens! It is I, 18th Shard (character: Xanas). You may not recognize the name (I have been a bit inactive due to a 2-year mission), but I was an early member of the DA - I created the symbol that is my user profile picture and the Disclaimer. I joined on page 6 of the original thread if anyone wants to perform a background check - though to be fair, my character didn't have much background at the time. I decided it is by far time to resurrect Xanas. And by resurrect, I do mean resurrect. @Voidus could you check for accuracy on the Void and Voidmaking? Thanks! Here is what I am thinking: As far as character sheet goes:

A case against Kaladin: Lighteyes: His hatred for them is inhuman, he can't even be near one without glaring at them. Oh sure, he treated Laral and Shallan alright, but they are both pretty girls, and as soon as he saw that he lost his chance, he started ignoring them. There were clearly some hidden motives there. Amaram: Can a person really hate another so much that they keep a desire to kill for a year? He even threw away all his plans just for a chance to kill him. What plans you ask? Well... The Kholins: A good family that was kind to him from the beginning. He resisted himself at first, but then saw that they were his chance to do things his way. The best way to get power is to stay close to it after all. Elhokar: Once more his hatred almost ruined all his plans. The moment he hears about a plan to kill the king he almost jumped to his feet. Of course, that wouldn't look good on the eyes of the other Kholins but getting rid of a king surely would be the fastest way to become one, right? This logic was wrong of course, as his judgement was flawed by his craving for blood. He realized that in the end and kept going with his original plan. Gavinor: Of course, Kaladin got what he wanted in the end and Elhokar died. And left a son. Who's the first to run to pick him up? Kaladin of course. What would be better than to get even closer to the royal family by earning the trust and affection of a young and suceptible child? Conclusion: Kaladin is a potential dictator that will kill every lighteyes on Roshar given the chance.

The corner of his lips twitched in the faintest of smiles as Voidus listened to the figure before him. She didn't meet his eyes as she spoke, but neither did she run in fear or beg for mercy. Voidus banished the smile from his expression but did spare a brief nod of approval for her behaviour. Her courage certainly explained the presence of the spren that still wavered on her shoulder, flickering as though unable to decide if it should be bright to provide some kind of comfort or dim to remain unnoticed. "But the last to speak with him." Voidus confirmed. "He left the Alleys almost immediately afterwards." Voidus looked her over once again, eyes running over the brown hair that was kept out of her face, the muscles of someone well accustomed to fighting, the scars of someone who had fought in more than simple trials or practice areas. With a more intent expression he continued watching, looking past the exterior to try to gauge the woman who waited for him to continue. What kind of person was she? Why had Mac spoken with her? And why had she decided to come into the Alleys? She seemed aware enough of the dangers, despite her attire indicating a recent arrival. "Did he ask you to come here?" Voidus asked, he stepped back a little to avoid overly intimidating her, lessening the intensity of his gaze as he did. "To pass along a message of some kind?" Voidus had only just noticed the moment that Mac had crossed through the Alleys, he hadn't seen anything that had happened before then. But if Mac had spoken to this girl and she was still here, aware of who Mac was, then he must have seen something in her. Some promise? Or had it simply been idle curiosity? @Ookla the Dreamer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Evening." Voidus said as the plain wooden door opened before him. "Let me guess, you must be-" "You know who she is." The Professor interrupted with an irritated tone. "I've had the picture on my desk since before we met." The two both entered through the door, being held open by a friendly young woman, blonde ringlets framing her smiling face as she allowed the two in before swatting at the Professor in mock-irritation. "That's no way to treat a guest dear." She said. The Professor just gave a sigh, holding the door open as Voidus stepped through, followed shortly after by another young woman. "Now let me guess, you must be Voidus." The Professor's wife began. "And this charming young lady must be Laurelai." "Indeed." Voidus replied with a disarming smile and giving a short nod of his head. "I apologize for having stolen your husband so frequently, but company such as his is hard to come by, I appreciate you allowing us to continue our meetings." "Well it can be difficult." She replied, sparing her husband an affectionate glance. "But he assures me it's necessary, and I'm just glad he's found someone to talk to again." The Professor and his wife led the way towards a large dining table, already set and laden with a large roast chicken and a collection of side dishes around it. They sat down together and began serving, piling plates high with tantalizing foods as they engaged their guests in small talk, waiting for Voidus and Laurelai to become more comfortable. "This is pleasant." Voidus said across the table, leaning back and relaxing into his chair. "Nice way to spend the time." "This chicken is delicious." Laurelai said. "There's something to it, a bit of a kick to the flavour that I can't put my finger on." "Lemon." The Professor's wife replied. "I can get you the recipe if you'd like? Not much to it if I'm being honest, nothing too fancy. I love your name by the way, where's that from?" "Family name." Laurelai replied with an awkward shrug. "My mother's middle name, and grandma's." "Ah, well maybe one day you'll have a little 'Laurelai' of your own." An amused reply came. "Or a little Voidus jr." Across the table Voidus smiled, he leaned back in his chair relaxing as the Professor stared anxiously into the distance. "It won't kill you to relax a little." Voidus said. "It's a rather pleasant evening if you take the moment to enjoy it." "I know." The Professor replied with frustration. "But I can't just relax, I can't forget... all of that. What's happened." He continued to look around anxiously, as though hoping the answer would pop out from behind the kitchen bench if he just stared at it hard enough or long enough. But after a minute's further brooding he gave a loud sigh, rolling his shoulders back and trying to force himself to relax. "I know that I won't be able to solve anything by worrying." He said. "It's just a lot to take in all at once. A lot of pressure." "You'd better get used to pressure." Voidus replied, still smiling. "Doesn't get much more pressure than what we're going to be attempting."

Journey Before Destination. You. Cannot. Have. My. Pain!

I am reading the 17S currently

The novella we never knew we needed until now.

So here's an idea that's bubbled to the surface of my brain over the past few days because of reading new WoBs and listening to old Shardcast episodes: Odium’s Accomplice So, I can’t help but feel like the more we’ve learned, the harder it is to imagine Odium beating Honor without help. Like, back when they were the only Shards we never about on Roshar, sure, but with Cultivation helping him? Harder to imagine. And, indeed, it doesn’t seem like he was able take them both. It seems like trying got Odium trapped on Braize and then stuck in a stalemate for 8000 years. So the question becomes ‘what changed? What happened around the time of the False Desolation and Recreance that let Odium break the stalemate?’ Now, I’m not going to go too far afield for the answer. I’m going with a fairly common one. I think he had help from another Shard. He does, after all, say “We killed you!” when Dalinar ascends. Really it makes the most sense to assume somebody else helped him kill Honor. And nor am I going to go crazy with my assumptions about which Shard it was. It was mostly likely the one with a known tendency to meddle on other planets. The one that Hoid says he has a vendetta against on the same level as Rayse. Autonomy. But, of course, Autonomy’s MO isn’t to just wander over, or to help from a distance. If Autonomy had wanted to interfere with events on Roshar, they would’ve created an Avatar there. And that’s where we get problems. Surely if Odium had an ally like that waiting in the wings, we would’ve heard about it by now. Even if that Avatar is no longer a factor in the present day for whatever reason, they’d be some record an enormous new threat appearing out of nowhere. Either in folklore or in the Gemstone archive. And that’s when I thought ‘wait a minute, there totally is an entity that fits that bill!’ Ba-Ado-Mishram the Ascendant The False Desolation is a strange event. Look at the Gemstone Archive’s account of what caused it: BAM somehow Connected to the Parsh and starting supplying them with Voidlight? Remember, the Last Desolation was 2000 years ago at this point. So BAM spend 2000 years going ‘sure would be great if I could get some forms of power going. Oh well,’ and then just suddenly a Light bulb flash? That seems unlikely. No, it feels more likely to me that the Unmade had just now gained the power to do that. And surely it can’t be coincidence that she gained that power around the same time Honor started dying. And, since you no doubt see where I’m going with this by now, it’s worth mentioning that Avatars don’t have to created from scratch, but can be the result of heaping Investiture on a pre-existing being: And now, to explicitly spell out my conclusion: Autonomy turned Ba-Ado-Mishram into an Avatar, and used that to help Odium kill Honor. Supporting Evidence and Addressing Known Problems It’s always struck me as strange the Singers were so reliant on Ba-Ado-Mishram that sealing her lobotomized them all. This surely can’t have always been the case- if it was, the Listeners would’ve been affected as well. Indeed, it doesn’t seem to have been the case until the False Desolation. But for her to involve herself to completely and so quickly with the fate of an entire species strikes me as a lot of power, even for an Unmade. But for an Avatar? That seems more plausible. If BAM was indeed an Avatar, trapping her seems like it’s asking a lot, even for a perfect gem. But it seems like the perfect gems are indeed perfect- Honor’s drop didn’t lose any Stormlight at all over centuries. If so, it shouldn’t matter how powerful the being trapped inside is. There is a WoB out there that says that there are only the three Shards on Roshar. As far as I’m aware, that’s the only WoB that runs the risk of shooting this entire theory through the heart. I’m inclined to argue that the difference between a Shard and an Avatar is big enough that the theory can slip by that bullet I’m not sure if I’m strengthening my case or weakening it by saying this, but: Surely it’s reasonable to describe the post-BAM singers as being totally deprived of autonomy. So it’s fitting if it was caused by them losing Autonomy. So, what do you guys think? Am I on to something, or have I gone insane?

Sorry, don't mind me. Just taking my love on Kaladin too seriously! :-)

Well, I understood the thread as trying to make a good guy look bad even if he wasn't and vice versa, so that's what I did, not that I really believe he's bad you know.

A case for Gaz. I know this is kinda cheating because he's been a little bit sympathetic ever since his POV in book one, but I really think Gaz as one of Shalan's squires, and later perhaps a radiant, would be super cool! Either that or he nobly sacrifices himself for some great cause, I'm happy with whichever. Wow Ookla the Evil Penguin, the other points make a little sense even if I don't personally agree with most of them, but you must really hate Kaladin if he can't even rescue a kid without it being part of some sinister scheme!

90%!!

90% baby!

Because ducks, along with wood, float.

Laurelai's foot sank into the water with purpose, the force of her stride immediately dissipated as she felt the warm water lapping around her lower leg, a sudden sense of calm overcoming her now that she was moving along with the whispering calls from the water. One more step carried her under the falling stream of liquid, allowed it to roll gently off of her as she bathed in the comfortable sensation. She could feel every encroaching moment, every shift of her body as she moved to stand beneath the falling water. Motion slowed around her, only the water somehow seeming like it was still in motion, still calling to her. Promising to give her what she wanted, what she needed. Answers. She saw in slow motion as the Stranger turned towards Lita, holding out a hand. Felt as though she understood how a Steelrunner must see the world as everything moved through a thick molasses. But it was not just that the world was slowing down, it was that she understood. Understood what the Stranger was doing, what he was about to say even though his lips had barely begun to form words. Understood how he had arrived here and why. Felt that if she were so inclined she might be understand the Stranger himself, come to know him more intimately than anyone she'd ever studied for her practice with Forgery. Possibilities expanded before her, an endless web of information, any strand of which she could follow and find an answer to a question that had plagued her all her life. Her powers, her fears, her life. She could discover the answer to any question she could think of here. All she had to do was wait beneath the waters, allow them to give her the knowledge that she needed. The knowledge that she deserved. In an instant she found a strand and began following it, she cast her mind back to that day when the city had erupted into chaos. The day she'd gotten drunk in a bar with Lita. But earlier in that day she had not been expecting her day to end well. Indeed she had not been expecting to see the end of the day at all when she felt that terrifying ominous presence rise up and threaten to steal all light from the world. The day that she had invoked the ire of the leader of the Dark Alleys. She saw the day in her mind, saw what she had not seen at the time. The look that she had mistaken for irritation had been a protective instinct. The anger had not been directed at her but at others around her. Voidus had not been about to destroy her or harm her, she understood that he never would. And understood that it was because she was his daughter. Her mind reeled at the revelation, losing the thread entirely as she attempted to process the information. Understand what it meant. how could it have happened? She heard Lita and the Stranger's voices faintly, heard their agonizingly slow conversation. But she was too distracted to even attempt to pull the knowledge that she needed from the water, she felt the disturbance of her mind bring forth a cascade of information as the waters attempted to give her what she sought, but the information was fragmented and chaotic, a reflection of her own mind as she sought to understand.

Dera raised an eyebrow as she read the latest message from her informant. Several Elariels dead, and Lady Elenbora now in charge. How interesting. This would change the political stage drastically in Luthadel. Dera didn't know Elenbora well, but was interested to see what the new power would mean for Elariel's overall influence. In just a few minutes, Dera was passing a sealed letter to a skaa servant, to be delivered back to her informant with instructions to spy on the new house leader. "Oh, and ready my carriage. I need to see my tailor." The fabric she'd ordered was nearly ready. --- Congrats Lemon! And Stick, too, I believe (if I'm remembering the rules correctly).

SOURCE: https://ectojazzmage.tumblr.com/post/172468159521/a-summary-of-the-cosmere#notes (beware of swears) So yeah, not mine.

BWOOOOOOM* https://www.tor.com/2019/12/10/brandon-sandersons-stormlight-archive-book-4-arrives-on-november-17-2020/ *that sound effect from Inception

So, I had an interesting question, and I wanted to see what people's answers would be. Is there such a thing as good and evil. And, if there is, why? And, if there isn't, why do we get so mad at people doing certain things, and so happy when they do other things?

I've read The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, The Final Empire, Skyward, and Starsight. I'm still working on reading all these books but there are so many!

Such a travesty that this didn’t actually happen.

SR is weird. Maybe, because he'd be able to read in the future, the text just always shows up.

I'll be Lieutenant Mauve, an experienced sniper for Enforcement.

@Eagle of the Forest Path Yelig-nar and Ba-Ado-Mishram have no direct mythology counterparts, they're based purely on Lovecraft: As, for Baal Hadad, he seems to share many features with Stormfather/Honor. And I'm wondering if Cultivation's name will have some links to mythology...

Can an Awakener use colour from a person's eyes to fuel an Awakening? How powerful or skilled would an Awakener need to be in order to achieve this? Would people with grey eyes be immune? We know that an Awakener can use colour from gemstones What about smokestone (smoky quartz)? Awakening bleaches colours to grey, can it draw colour from a grey gemstone?

That is precisely the point. Roshar is developing slowly. Why? Hypothesis: One factor is a lack of cheap transportation Finding: Roshar indeed has little cheap sea transport, due to its shape. Where did the industrial revolution start? Great Britain. A ridiculously long coast line for its area. Where do we find thriving proto-industries? Among other areas, the northern Mediterranean. Again, long coast lines for its area. Another area was China. Major permament rivers and a famous canal and costal shipping. Again not found on Roshar. Roshar usually has ground which is rock. You would need to dig into that, if you want a canal. How many of those are there for a whole continent? Not in the areas where industrialization started on Earth. When was the last time a major English river dried out? You have to go into the geological past for examples. Or a German river or a Northern Italian or East Chinese river or a river on the east coast of North America? All the areas in which the industrial revolution took hold in early or showed a thriving proto-industry show permanent rivers and decent oceanic shipping. You can ship goods quite reliably there by numerous ways. That is precisely the reason it does not help to show that under good conditions you can sometimes ship by river on Roshar. It needs to work well, not just in principle. Yes. On a world where you cannot just build an earthen dam. On a world where most rivers have a wildly fluctuating amount of flow. We are talking about making something work economically, not a proof of concept.

Sagitta listened to the gods, observed them, tried to understand, to grasp, slowly realizing that she couldn't. There was no way to understand this, no way to grasp it and to make it real. It was something she needed to accept and even that knowledge didn't make things easier. She turned to Price when she felt it, an urgent, tugging sensation that ran though her bones, as if she had jumped into an half-frozen river. It scared her, but what scared her even more was the name Gati uttered, the way the gods reacted, as if they were swatted down by an unseen power. Tiska. She had heard of Tiska, had heard of the nomads of the place - and the gods wanted to go there. It was too good a chance to let it slide. "Price." She adressed her friend quietly. "Let's go along with them. To Tiska." He could study the gods and she, maybe she could learn about their enemy. If they knew more about them, it would grant them an edge in the upcoming battle. "Let's fetch some equipment, weapons for both of us, so that we can train, and preferably some armor too - we might need an animal to carry food and water - but we should go." Her voice sounded urgent, reflected the urgency that only slowly let go of her. They needed to go, to see with their own eyes. They had to. @Ookla the Maybe-Existent

You realize that the babies are being murdered for spikes, right? I mean, I thought that was obvious once I saw the Set was using Hemalurgy. They aren’t looking to breed a Mistborn; they are looking to breed useful Allomancer and Feruchemists so they can steal their powers. Much easier, and more likely to succeed.

Not according to Brandon. That is not what Ruin says. He specifically says Kelsier holds the shard, his state as a Cognitive shadow without a tie to the Physical Realm just makes him less potent in wielding that power. Which fully explains why the Mists, which are a Physical manifestation of Investiture are out of his reach. They were Connected to him, as the Vessel of Preservation, but he has no control over them. He was able to do more than that. His incompatibility with the power and his lack of Physical Aspect minimized what he was able to do, but the fact that he was able to oppose Ruin at all means he had to have held the Shard in truth. Most notably because this... Is in no way the same situation. The Well was a finite amount of power designed to be used and expended. In some ways, yes, Rashek was more Powerful than Kelsier... But that was with a fully realized Physical aspect, unopposed by Ruin, and with a source of power that could be measured in seconds before it ran out. Kelsier on the other hand, lacked that Physical tie, was directly opposed by Ruin, and despite everything that he did, the power cycled back to him because... He held the Shard as its Vessel.

I think within Survivorism the belief was that Kelsier was God, while Sazed was the caretaker of the world.

When someone compliments your Doomslug shirt and you resist the urge to scream in joy that SOMEONE FINALLY GETS THE REFERENCE!

Mostly his seizures. A decent argument. Perhaps on an even deeper level she is fighting the healing for some reason?

It could be. It could also be a big battle scene with all the radiants, a city awakening moment, Taln waking up and decided that he wants to open a pastry factory or Adolin and Kaladin's honeymoon.

That sounds awesome. I believe Mailliw used a similar idea way back when in midrange 12 as well. I can't miss out on this! I will sign up as Clark Narrow, a punk kid from the streets with aspirations of making a difference in this new world.

Now signed by Brandon!

Mistborn Magic Spoiler(talks about mistborn magic theory) Is it technically possible to create a unicorn mistborn? With the Inquisitors, they stab themselves with hemalurgic spikes to get allomancy. So what is stopping someone from getting a horse and killing a full mistborn with a spike as they drive it into.tje head of a horse, and therefore create a mistborn unicorn?

I fail to see how that contributes to this conversation nor do I agree with your statement. I’d have to pick Kaladin just because I relate so much to him on a personal level. Rarely have a rooted so hard for a character.

All I know is that there is like a million RWBY ships, and canon sinks ships soo.. Scissors respond “No”

He worshipped those pants.

Cosmere Stormlight Archive Secret History I dont think I've ever used my upvotes so quickly as today

When you glance at your computer screen and do a double-take because you read "Welcome to Ubuntu" as "Welcome to Urithiru".

When... Oh wait, I can't think of something that hasn't been said yet.

When you create your own Bridge Four style tattoo and spray paint it on a skateboard in Art Class (will upload a picture when I'm done ) When you have dreams that one of the main character Silas Greave in Call of Juarez is really Wax

Wow. It all makes sense now. Through your words I have gained total enlightenment. Thank you, Bugsy6912, thank you.

"[page 4 – CaptainRyan] 1) If [the Scadrians] started at the Horneater Peaks, they would be stuck there because of the extreme cold and would likely die without a ton of heat Medallions Any military would scout their invasion point in some manner so the Scadrians would not be surprised by the cold. They would definitely prepare, in some manner, to appear in cold, mountainous heights." edit: I just realized that you, Kevino36, were the one who suggested heat medallions as a possible solution. There are plenty of ways for soldiers to fight in the cold without heat medallions. Horneater Peaks would not be a death trap unless, somehow, the Alethi army knew to encamp their full might at the shardpool. Maybe they would do that but then, at worst, the war would be a stalemate.

Won battles. Not wars, Kevino.

Kevino36, I love your enthusiasm but I think it is time to acknowledge that people have addressed these ideas more than once. Bullet Repelling Fabrials a: They do not exist b: If the fabrial tech does exist to make them they would only be able to repel a certain number of bullets. In small engagements they might be useful but in pitched battles there would be wayyyyyy too many bullets flying. The gemstones would run out of charge really fast. Reverse-Engineering Guns a: Guns require fairly precise engineering if you want to mass produce them (soulcasters might be able to generate enough but, if you think about it, the Alethi use regular blacksmiths for swords and stuff right? soulcasting is an intense process that costs precious stormlight and also affects the soulcasters in some way - mass producing tens of thousands of guns would have some serious consequences imo) b: Even if you have gun you still need bullets and see (a) about the effect this would have on soulcasters. Furthermore, you need millions upon millions of bullets to equip tens of thousands of infantry. Wow. Lots of bullets eh? c: Gunpowder. Thousands of tons of gunpowder. A substance Rosharans have no understanding of and will not have infrastructure in place to manufacture d: Training. Guns might seem to be a "point and shoot" type of weapon but, in reality, they require a serious amount of training to use effectively. On top of that you have to know how to maintain your weapon and Generals need to know how to employ infantry that use guns as opposed to spears. None of this would be easy or quick. edit: Why in the world does b + ) equal ? Ugh. Emojis I love you but not when you interfere with my list making!

Zane stares at the stars. He keeps staring, and it gets worse.